"The fact that so many successful politicans are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy them, and only in the short run." — Thos. Sowell, TownHall, May 22, 2012 (as quoted by Frank Maguire)

I CAN REMEMBER THE 1960s, when many college "scholars" were forced to read "The Ugly American" — a little book about Americans abroad who turned off the people abroad. In this great 21st century, America sends out its broads (excuse me, I mean "beautiful people") to represent us culturally — supposedly to get the world to like us? Are you kidding me?

One of Senator Oboma's highest priorities while running in 2008 was to restore America to a higher standing on the world "stage," and just for that campaign he won a Nobel Peace Prize. Now his own Royal Guards embarrass the United States in brothels around the world, as his family flies around the world, bringing back to mind Carol Mosley Braun.

America not only has an octomom, but a celebrity dead-beat dad with 31 kids by 11 different "moms" — and the news media ask the obvious question: "Why can't he get anything better than a minimum-wage job, racism?"

Never mind our pornography and/or motion picture films, Walter Williams points out that over 7,000 blacks are murdered in the U.S. every year (94 percent of them by other African-Americans). And the news media ask the obvious question, "Was George (white-black-Hispanic) Zimmerman a stalker?"

Actually, as Williams says in a current column, 279,384 blacks were murdered in the U.S. between 1976 and 2011, the victims of 262,621 other blacks. The dumb question I would ask of the intelligentsia is, "Is it really worth that much to maintain a permanent underclass of voters?"

Some blame racist employers for not hiring minorities, to which I would ask another dumb question: "Why would the business community 'oppress' anyone (their potential customers)?" There's no motive there, but there is a motive for dumbing down education and maximizing the number of uninformed voters to manipulate. And, for the intellectual class, there's opportunity to do it, too!

North Carolina keeps making news. First it was a school that confiscated a little girl's box lunch, and told her she had to eat chicken nuggets. Now a "social science" teacher warns a student not to "diss" the President, and implies that he could be arrested. She also told the class that Pres. Bush was a "sh---y" President.

She's just a tiny bit confused as to what her job is, as is our Prez. He said the other day that his job isn't about profits but to try to give everyone a "fair shot." That's a new one on me. Reagan said "just get out of our way, government."

Talk about people wanting the "impossible," is it "fair" — when you have 31 kids by 11 "mothers" — to demand that people who are trying to take care of their own kids pay for yours? That's the New Fairness, I guess. No problemo! [By the way, did you ever notice that there's no federal program called "Men, infants, and children" or MIC?]

CONCLUSION: There are no free throws in the Law of Nature, but there are consequences.

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. — Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (1820-1903)

P.S.

So many happenings, so little time. I could close with many rambling thoughts, but first a couple of corrections:

a) In my column last week, I said that Andy Griffith and Aunt Bea must be rolling over in their graves; it turns out though that Andy may still be with us according to Wikipedia (but can you really trust Wikipedia any more than the media?).

b) My column on Freedom's turning points said that there were 200 years between the War of 1812[-14] and the First World War (1914). That was either bad math or bad typing, and I'm not telling which. As Joe Biden might say, "You know what I meant." Didn't you?

PPS:

Last week's column mentioned "Eco-tyranny" by Brian Sussman. This week I want to mention, and recommend, "The Greatest Hoax; How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future" by Senator James Inhofe.

I'm scanning David Plouffe's book, "The Audacity of Winning" and I was going to review some parts of it, but I didn't. I got sidetracked, but I can say, as Patton said of Rommel, "I read your book!"

OH, by the way — the Gallup poll now finds that 50 percent of Americans are "pro-life" and only 41% pro "choice." Some good fodder there for the "It's only the economy" political experts.

The Rasmussen poll says that 30 percent of likely voters say they believe America is "heading in the right direction." THIRTY PERCENT?

Curtis Dahlgren

Curtis Dahlgren is semi-retired in southern Wisconsin, and is the author of "Massey-Harris 101." His career has had some rough similarities to one of his favorite writers, Ferrar Fenton... (more)

Curtis Dahlgren is semi-retired in southern Wisconsin, and is the author of "Massey-Harris 101." His career has had some rough similarities to one of his favorite writers, Ferrar Fenton. In the intro to The Fenton Bible, Fenton said:

"I was in '53 a young student in a course of education for an entirely literary career, but with a wider basis of study than is usual. . . . In commerce my life has been passed. . . . Indeed, I hold my commercial experience to have been my most important field of education, divinely prepared to fit me to be a competent translator of the Bible, for it taught me what men are and upon what motives they act, and by what influences they are controlled. Had I, on the other hand, lived the life of a Collegiate Professor, shut up in the narrow walls of a library, I consider that I should have had my knowledge of mankind so confined to glancing through a 'peep-hole' as to make me totally unfit for [my life's work]."

In 1971-72 Curtis did some writing for the Badger Herald and he is listed as a University of Wisconsin-Madison "alumnus" (loosely speaking, along with a few other drop-outs including John Muir, Charles Lindbergh, Frank Lloyd Wright and Dick Cheney). [He writes humor, too.]